Florida Civil Procedure: Filing, Discovery, Trial, and Appeals

Florida civil procedure is the set of rules that governs how non-criminal lawsuits move through the state’s courts, from the moment a complaint is filed through trial, appeal, and collection of a judgment. Each stage has its own deadlines, and two of them are unforgiving: the statute of limitations that controls when you can file, and the 30-day window to appeal after a final judgment. Everything else, from which court hears the case to how evidence gets exchanged, follows from those bookends.

Which Court Hears Your Case

Florida divides civil cases between two trial courts based on the amount in dispute and the subject matter. County courts handle civil cases where the amount in controversy is $50,000 or less, a threshold that rose from $30,000 for cases filed on or after January 1, 2023.1Florida Senate. 2025 Florida Statutes 34.01 – Jurisdiction of County Court They are the venue for small claims, landlord-tenant disputes, and modest contract disagreements. Cases exceeding $50,000 go to circuit court, which also handles probate, family law, real property disputes, and injunctions regardless of the dollar amount.

Jurisdiction is the court’s authority to hear the case. Venue is the county where you file. Under Florida law, civil actions should be filed in the county where the defendant lives, where the events giving rise to the claim occurred, or where the disputed property is located.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 47.011 (2025) – Where Actions May Be Begun Contract disputes sometimes include a forum selection clause that locks litigation into a specific county. File in the wrong venue and the defendant can force a transfer, costing time and money. File in a court without jurisdiction and any ruling can be thrown out.

Deadlines to File a Claim

Every civil claim in Florida has a filing deadline, and once it passes the courthouse door closes for good. The clock runs from the date of the breach or injury, not from when you decided to act. The main windows:

Florida recognizes a discovery rule for certain claims, particularly medical malpractice. If the injury was not immediately apparent, the clock may start when the injured person knew or reasonably should have known about the harm and its cause. Florida imposes an outer limit even under that rule, and courts expect you to show you acted diligently once something looked wrong. Some circumstances can pause the clock, such as a defendant leaving the state to avoid service, but the specifics are fact-dependent. Assuming you have more time than you actually do is one of the most expensive mistakes in civil litigation.

Starting the Lawsuit

A civil case begins when the plaintiff files a complaint with the court clerk. The complaint sets out the facts of the claim and the relief sought in a short, plain statement, with the level of detail varying by case type. A filing fee goes with it. For most circuit court cases with five or fewer defendants, the fee is up to $395.4Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees for Trial and Appellate Proceedings Family law cases carry a lower fee of up to $295. The clerk assigns a case number and issues a summons.

The defendant then has to be formally notified through service of process. Personal service, where a sheriff’s deputy or licensed process server hands the documents directly to the defendant, is the preferred method. If personal delivery fails, substitute service is possible, such as leaving the documents with someone at least 15 years old who lives at the defendant’s usual residence.5Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.031 (2025) – Service of Process Generally When a defendant genuinely cannot be found, the court may authorize service by publication in a newspaper.

Once served, the defendant has 20 days to respond, either with an answer that admits or denies each allegation and raises any affirmative defenses, or with a motion to dismiss that argues the complaint is legally insufficient on its face. Do nothing in that 20-day window and the plaintiff can ask the clerk or court to enter a default judgment. That is losing by forfeit.

Discovery

After the initial pleadings, both sides exchange information through discovery. This is where the substance of a case gets built, and it is designed so neither side walks into trial surprised by evidence they have never seen. The main tools are interrogatories, requests for admission, depositions, and requests for production.

Interrogatories and Requests for Admission

Interrogatories are written questions answered under oath. Florida limits each party to 30 interrogatories unless the court allows more, and responses are due within 30 days. They target factual details: who witnessed the incident, how damages were calculated, what insurance exists. Evasive or missing answers can prompt a motion to compel, and the court can sanction a party by fining them or by striking claims or defenses.

Requests for admission ask the other side to admit or deny specific facts. Responses are due within 30 days, and failing to respond at all means the facts are deemed admitted, which can reshape a case overnight. A party that wrongfully denies something later proven at trial can be ordered to pay the costs of proving it.

Depositions

Depositions are live, under-oath questioning sessions, typically held in a lawyer’s office and recorded by a court reporter. Unlike interrogatories, depositions allow follow-up questions, which makes them far more effective at exposing inconsistencies. Reasonable notice is required, and non-party witnesses can be compelled through a subpoena. A witness who refuses to answer can be ordered by the court to testify.

Document Requests and Electronic Evidence

Requests for production let a party demand tangible evidence like contracts, emails, photographs, and medical records, with 30 days to respond. Florida courts favor broad discovery, so objections need real grounds. Electronic evidence has become the dominant battlefield: text messages, social media posts, cloud-stored files, and metadata all fall within discoverable material. Once litigation is reasonably anticipated, both sides have a duty to preserve relevant electronic evidence, which means stopping routine deletion of emails and backups. Destroying evidence, known as spoliation, can lead the court to instruct the jury to assume the lost material was unfavorable.

Evidence sometimes sits with someone who isn’t a party, such as a bank, hospital, or employer. A subpoena to a non-party must give reasonable time for compliance and cannot impose an undue burden. If the non-party objects, the requesting party has to go back to the court for an order compelling production, and courts are required to protect non-parties from significant expense caused by someone else’s lawsuit.

Mediation and the Offer of Judgment

Florida courts have broad authority to send civil cases to mediation before trial.6Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 44.102 – Court-Ordered Mediation In family law cases involving custody or parental responsibility disputes, mediation is mandatory when the court finds a dispute exists. In other civil cases the judge has discretion, and most circuit court judges use it freely. In practice the vast majority of Florida civil cases go through mediation at some point.

Mediation is a structured negotiation session run by a neutral mediator who does not decide anything. The mediator helps the parties explore settlement, often meeting privately with each side to reality-test their positions. A surprising number of cases settle at mediation or shortly after.

Florida also has a settlement incentive that catches many litigants off guard. Either side can serve a formal offer of judgment, and the opposing party has 30 days to accept or reject it.7Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 768.79 – Offer of Judgment and Demand for Judgment If a defendant’s offer is rejected and the plaintiff ultimately recovers at least 25 percent less than the offer, the defendant can recover attorney’s fees and costs incurred after the offer. Those fees are offset against any award, and when they exceed the judgment the plaintiff can end up owing the defendant money despite winning the case. The rule works in reverse for plaintiffs. A plaintiff whose demand for judgment is rejected, and who then recovers at least 25 percent more than the demand, collects attorney’s fees from the defendant. This mechanism creates real risk on both sides and is one of the main reasons Florida civil cases settle before trial.

Summary Judgment

Not every case needs a trial. If the evidence gathered in discovery shows no genuine factual dispute and one side wins as a matter of law, that party can move for summary judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510. Since May 2021, Florida has followed the federal summary judgment standard, which asks whether a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the opposing side. If the answer is no, the judge grants the motion and the case ends.

These motions come after discovery and force both sides to put their best evidence on the table. The moving party has to point to depositions, documents, and admissions showing there is nothing for a jury to decide. The opposing party then has to come back with specific evidence, not just the allegations in the complaint, showing a real factual dispute exists. Judges deny the motion when credibility questions are live, because weighing witness credibility is the jury’s job.

Trial

Cases that survive discovery and pretrial motions proceed to trial, decided either by a jury or by the judge in a bench trial. The Florida Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial, with the number of jurors no fewer than six.8FindLaw. Florida Constitution Art. I, Section 22 – Trial by Jury Both sides can waive a jury, in which case the judge decides every question. If a jury is requested, prospective jurors go through voir dire, where attorneys question them and remove those who may not be impartial.

The plaintiff presents first, calling witnesses and introducing evidence, with each witness testifying under oath and subject to cross-examination. Expert witnesses, such as medical professionals, accident reconstruction specialists, or forensic accountants, often provide testimony that can make or break a case. After the plaintiff rests, the defense presents its case in the same format. Closing arguments follow.

In a jury trial, the judge instructs the jury on the applicable law before deliberations. Unlike criminal cases, Florida civil jury verdicts do not require unanimity. Once the jury reaches a verdict, the judge enters it as a judgment. In a bench trial, the judge issues a written ruling. Either way, post-trial motions for a new trial or other relief may follow if a party believes legal errors occurred.

Appeals

A party who loses at trial can appeal to the appropriate District Court of Appeal. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the final judgment, and missing that deadline is fatal.9Rules for Florida Appellate Procedure. Rule 9.110 – Appeal Proceedings to Review Final Orders of Lower Tribunals The clock starts from the date the order is rendered, not from when you receive it, so tracking that date closely matters.

An appeal is not a second trial. The appellate court reviews the record, including transcripts and exhibits, to decide whether legal errors materially affected the outcome. The appellant files a brief identifying the errors with supporting legal authority, the appellee responds, and some cases include oral argument before a panel of appellate judges. Pure legal questions get fresh review. Factual findings are overturned only if no competent evidence supports them. Discretionary rulings, like evidentiary calls, are reversed only when the trial judge clearly went off the rails.

Filing an appeal does not automatically stop the winning party from collecting. To halt enforcement while the appeal is pending, the losing party typically must post a supersedeas bond. Florida caps the required bond at $50 million per appellant regardless of the judgment amount, with the cap adjusted annually for inflation.10Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 45.045 – Supersedeas Bond In practice the bond amount is tied to the judgment plus anticipated interest and costs. The court can reduce the bond for good cause, but not if the appellant has insurance or indemnification covering the case. If the appeal fails, the appellate court may affirm, reverse, or send the case back for further proceedings.

Collecting a Judgment

Winning a judgment and actually collecting money are two very different things. A judgment gives the winning party legal tools to go after the losing party’s assets, but it does not put cash in anyone’s hand.

The first step is often recording the judgment as a lien. In Florida, a judgment becomes a lien on real property in any county where a certified copy is recorded in the official records.11Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 55.10 – Judgments, Orders, and Decrees; Lien The judgment must include the address of the lien holder, or a separate affidavit with that address must be recorded at the same time. Once recorded, the lien attaches to all non-exempt real estate the debtor owns in that county. Any sale or refinance has to satisfy the lien first.

Beyond liens, a judgment creditor can seek a writ of execution directing the sheriff to levy on non-exempt assets. Florida allows wage garnishment, but the state provides a head-of-household exemption that can shield earnings entirely when the debtor provides more than half the support for a dependent. Federal law separately caps garnishment at 25 percent of disposable earnings for most consumer debts. These protections mean collecting against someone with limited assets or strong exemptions can be slow and frustrating, which is another reason so many cases settle.

Judgment liens on real property last 10 years from the date of recording and can be extended by re-recording before they expire. Judgments themselves remain enforceable for 20 years, giving creditors a long runway. The practical reality is that the sooner enforcement efforts begin, the better the chances of recovery.